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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Special Days are Birthdays

In my family, birthdays are always a special occasion. My favorite part is that you can decide where you want to go eat on that day. This was always a very special time for me because I could choose an expensive restaurant because this was my birthday present from my parents. For my 17th birthday, I was an Emeril fan and so I wanted to go to his restaurant Emerils in New Orleans. I loved the experience! I even had the chance to tour the kitchen which I was so fascinated by.

For my 18th birthday, I went to the Royal Sonesta's restaurant in New Orleans for their Sunday brunch. This place became a favorite birthday spot for my other family members as well. I could have skipped the breakfast/lunch items and could have dove into the desserts right away. The presentation of the desserts is what fascinated me. I especially loved their banana fosters, eclairs, and pecan pralines.

Ok so enough about me. My dad's birthday was yesterday and I asked him where he wanted to eat for his birthday, in the back of my mind I already knew his answer. He told me that he wanted me to cook for him. Me- What do you want me to cook?
Dad- I love your Mexican egg rolls
Me- Ok but that can't just be the meal. (He loves these things and I never make them.) I will do that for an appetizer.
Dad- You are the Masterchef. Surprise me with the rest of the meal.
Me- Ok sounds good

So, I call my mom.
Me- Mom what do you think dad would want for dinner.
Mom- He loves to order steak when we go out to eat.
Me- Ok I will prepare filet mignon. (I am also thinking to myself now Mom are you saying steak because you like it too. ha ha!)
Mom- sounds great!

Luckily I am in Hattiesburg because my small town does not offer filet mignon in its grocery stores. I go by the Lil' Butcher Shop and pick up my dad a 10 oz. filet and also 2- 8 oz. filets and a 5 oz. filet. I decided to marinade the filets in my Miracle Marinade (recipe found in my cookbook- Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm). I let them soak for a hour in the refrigerator. I then pat them dry so that I could get a good sear on the filets. You want to make sure you begin with a hot grill pan. (I used a Lodge castiron grill pan. I found it for $20 at Target) I preheated my pan on medium-high and drizzled canola oil in the pan to coat the bottom. Sear each side of the filets for 2-3 minutes, depending on thickness. I then put the grill pan in a preheated 400 degree oven. Again the cooking time depends on the size and thickness of the filets. For the 5 oz. filet, it took about 4-5 minutes. This produced a medium filet.

To serve the filet mignons, I caramelized onions and sauteed baby bella mushrooms.

He was a very happy man. I might as well have put a candle in his filet because he was too full for birthday cake.

1 comment:

i saw that your gonna be in greenville sc in sept well after waiting for you to get close and wanting my book signed , and the fact i live 16 miles on a mountian from there " perfect" not no tickets and no way to get in waitlist " sold out " that awesome so as a competitive cook i just wanted to say im so happy for you !! us southerners have got the food world by the horns ! yeppie ! good luck in all you do ! hate not being able to meet you but i will be getiing redy at the time for fall cook -offs , maybe next time when your close

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About Me

Growing up in a very food, faith, and family-oriented environment, she was always in the kitchen cooking with her mom and two sisters or her great-grandmother, who is ninety-five today and still cooking. Benefiting from her great-grandmother’s inspiration in southern hospitality and cooking large Sunday dinners for extended family and friends, Whitney has aspired to be a great cook from an early age. In her senior year at the University of Southern Mississippi, at the age of twenty two, she auditioned and won Fox’s show “Masterchef” and gained the title of Fox’s 1st U. S. Masterchef. Also, because of her talent on the show with desserts, Whitney was deemed the “Pastry Princess.”
Since winning “Masterchef,” Whitney has spent time doing cooking demonstrations such as Anaheim’s Celebrity Food and Gift Show with TLC’s Little Chocolatiers. She also has acted as celebrity judge for numerous cooking contests such as B.I.O Special Events Wedding Cake Competition with Duff Goldman. Whitney's cookbook- Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm was released on July 5, 2011.